The Pragmatic Innovator

New White Paper Discusses Urgent Need for Innovative Video Distribution Solutions

Posted by Dave Gibbons

Earlier today, we announced the availability of a new white paper titled “Streaming Video and Wireless: A Fundamental Mismatch?”  In the paper, the team explores the fundamental mismatch between the amount of spectrum available and the demand that streaming video places on that spectrum.

We’re very excited about this paper for a number of reasons; in addition to providing a compelling analysis of the traditional video delivery solutions, we also introduce content pre-positioning as a compelling new component to complement these traditional solutions.

The full white paper can be downloaded, free of charge, here. Please check it out and let us know if you agree or disagree with our assertion that streaming video and wireless are a fundamental mismatch.  As always, you can post a comment here on this blog, or, if you are attending CTIA Enterprise & Applications next week, you can drop by our stand (#755) and let us know what you think.

Vote for NetRover Mobile!

Posted by Dave Gibbons

We are very excited to announce that NetRover Mobile has been nominated for a Streaming Media Readers’ Choice Award!  Now it’s time for you, our readers, to cast your vote!  (Those of you in the US can consider it good practice for our upcoming Election Day!)

Please click here to complete a short registration form and vote.  Voting will remain open until October 1, and Streaming Media will announce the top three vote-getters in each category on October 18.  Winners will be announced at a gala reception at Streaming Media West in Los Angeles on November 2.

If you need more convincing that NetRover Mobile is the coolest video optimization solution on the list and a critical technology to augment traditional streaming solutions, check this out.

We appreciate your support!

So What Exactly is Content Pre-Positioning?

Posted by John Burnette

Earlier this summer, FierceWireless posted an incredibly timely and relevant article entitled: “Mobile video traffic: Alleviating the capacity crunch.” The article was excellent summary of all of the solutions available to operators to handle the massive strain placed on their networks from video services, with one notable exception: it does not mention content pre-positioning.

It’s understandable why Content Prepositioning wasn’t included.  While adaptive streaming, bit-rate throttling, transcoding and optimization techniques, and smart caching have been around for quite some time, Content Prepositioning is a relatively new and sophisticated concept.  So what exactly is Content Prepositioning and how does it compare to these other technologies?

Simply put, Content Prepositioning enables smarter networks to deliver better video by pre-loading content to the end user device before the moment of playback.   Because the content is locally rendered, playback starts instantly, never freezes and does not depend on a live broadband connection.  Unlike approaches that use adaptive streaming, bit-rate throttling, trickling, or transporting and optimization techniques, Opanga’s unique Content Prepositioning technology only uses surplus capacity to ensure that video delivery does not add to the existing network congestion.  The bottom line?  Content Prepositioning can help save the operator’s networks while providing a vastly superior consumer wireless video experience.

We think that Content Prepositioning is an essential technology to augment existing techniques and technologies and we are proud to be pioneering the concept.  What do you think?  We would love to hear your thoughts, so please feel free to chime in with comments.

Opanga Says: Let’s Kill Streaming Video

Opanga Secures Funding for Development of Video Delivery Optimization Solutions

Understanding the Capacity Crunch & the Necessity of Smarter Networks

There is no doubt that video will drive revenue growth and innovation for wireless services in the future.  But there is a fundamental mismatch between the amount of spectrum available on the planet and the demand that streaming video places on that spectrum. Let’s discuss why.

Streaming video technology is not scalable due to its inherently degrading effect on the networks and inconsistent user quality.  Consider that the amount of capacity (the continuous bit rate) required for streaming video is determined by the quality of the video playback to be delivered and the resolution of the rendition – the screen size. A true HD stream to a large flat screen TV requires tens of megabits per second whereas a video stream to a small Smartphone screen with reasonable minimum playback quality can be as low as 300kbps.

In contrast, voice services and SMS services use a fraction of the bandwidth consumed by streaming video. The table below compares the bandwidth consumption for various wireless applications over a typical session duration.

Pretty sobering figures, especially when you consider that streaming services typically don’t generate any additional revenue for the operators.  Opanga has been working with wireless operators to help them create smarter networks and distribute better quality video by prepositioning content— all without deploying substantial new capital equipment.

In the next few weeks, we will be sharing with you exactly how we are doing this, but in the meantime, we want to know what you think. Is streaming a long term viable business proposition?  What do you feel are better ways to distribute video over broadband wireless networks?